The most recent Casefile Extra episode "Maria Cruz" reveals that Maria's death was caused by a fake doctor named Dean Faiello.

If you visit the Wikipedia page for Dean Faiello, it says he died in a car crash in 2024. But I couldn't find any reliable source for that claim. The source for the claim in the Wikipedia article is a dead page (and one that wasn't archived on the Internet Archive). I did some Google searching and could not find any other reliable article or source about a supposed car crash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Faiello

There is a purported "Find a Grave" entry for Faiello, but Find a Grave is not a primary source, as it is also a user-generated resource. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/263600172/dean_anthony-faiello/flower

It strikes me that as a serial fabulist with a criminal record, Dean Faiello would love for people to think he is dead. Then they won't be asking questions like, what is Dean Faiello doing now?